Murphy's Law

What are the odds that Chad does not read the blog for months on end and get to enjoy all the wonderful posts I have made about him and how great a dad and such a super duper amazing husband ( I would insert several links to previous posts here but I do not know how) YET he decides to start reading two days ago when I post a slightly mean comment about him. ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? Of course I will probably have to hear about this one as well but what is a mom to do. I am supposed to provide an honest and accurate description of the daily happenings of the Gill family and if for some reason Chad is not shown is a good light every time, maybe he should think about his behavior.
However, the somewhat negative post of earlier this week did earn me a night off from the dogs. He said he would let them out or in in order to avoid another negative comment on the blog. I guess I should take a win however I may get one!

WILD CHILDREN

My children are wild. Especially when it comes to being around water. Barrett and Logan's absolute favorite game to play at the beach was let the wave come crashing in, knock them down and under, and then flounder up......repeat.....repeat....repeat until I could not take it any more and I had to head up to the house with Coopster. THEN, today at the pool Parker started a new game. Run along the side of the pool then jump in at any moment, no matter the depth or the location of mommy. I Love that he is not afraid of the water but give me a break! I think I have lost several years off of my life from all the cardiac arrest over the past 10 days.

Don't even start with me

Have anyone out there ever noticed that when one of the children has a hard time sleeping, that is when Daddy seems to sleep more soundly than anything and then has the GAUL to complain about not sleeping well. The other night Parker was up and then last night Chad thought it was a good idea to tell me he was wide awake and having a very hard time sleeping while Parker was crying but he just didn't have the energy to go and get him. REALLY??? Like I wanted to be brought out of my precious slumber to go and appease the monkey?????? Next time, keep the thought to yourself..... or better yet, GO GET THE CHILD!!!!!

Being the Mommy

So there are definatley times when it is good to be the mommy and times when it is good to be the daddy. Good to be the mommy when the snuggles, kisses, smiles, and laughter are abundant. Good to be the daddy arriving home to four children running out to great you and dinner is ready and all you have to do is sit and play with the kids. Last night I was noticing how good it was to be the daddy when Parker woke up yet again in the middle of the night crying. He was even crying for Chad but I was the one who went in to check on him. As I walked in, grumpy because it was the middle of the night and I was really REALLY asleep and had to get up in a few hours and I left the warm bed with my husband snoring beside me, Parker looked up at me and said , "Wock mama...wock" MY little boy wanted some snuggle time and can you blame him? All day he shares me with his brother and sisters and we go go go.....when does he get that down mommy and park time? Bummer it has to be in the middle of the night but as I scooped up my little monkey and rocked him, I realized it really WAS good to be the mommy sometimes! I can sleep later, he won't want to rock much longer..........

We are BACK!

We are back from Sandbridge. We had a wonderful time and I was really not ready to come back and join in the rat race. Chad left for work 2.4 minutes after unloading the car and will be working through the next 18-20 days until we leave for Bald Head. He seems to take 5 days off and have to make up for it for the next 3-4 weeks. Hopefully though, he will get all finished so he can enjoy our time at Bald Head Island....which is a family trip with HIS FAMILY so he better be there, physically and mentally. I guess those are the joys of owning your own business, you never really do get vacation time.
Any way, I have lots of pictures from the trip and I will not bore you with most of them but these are a few of my favorites.....

Quick Pic...

Here are a few pictures of our vacation so far.......
Do notice, there are none of mommy. All the moms out there unerstand why, if mommy doesn't take the pictures, they would not get taken! We're having fun.... lots of silliness and very little bickering! YEAH!!!!!

Quick Update

Quick update......
we made it to the beach yesterday safe and sound and TRAILER FREE!!!! I would have to say, Chad did not give me enough props for how efficiently I packed us. It is pretty impressive that I got our family of six to the beach in four reasonable duffle bags, three back packs then beach chair and boogie board, and five bikes on a bike rack! Good Job Ginny!!! WIll try to post some photos over the week but I am not promising anything. I am going to try and take a break and a well deserved vacation....
if that is possible with 4 children!

The Trailer

Okay, so you guys know we are headed off to the beach on Saturday for vacation but what only some of you know is, what I like to call..... THE TRAILER ISSUE '08. I guess I really should not put '08 behind it because it has been the issue for the pst few years but only this year do I have a really good excuse. You see, Chad wants to bring the trailer to the beach. Yes, drive the super large suburban AND pull a trailer. How do we NOT look like the beverly hillbillies?????? All I need now is for my mom to ride in the back in her rocking chair. NO JOKE!!!! You see, his main argument was we could not fit the 5 bikes and all of our stuff in the Tahoe, even with the pack on top. Yes, that was true but now we own a Suburban. Can you find a bigger car????? I think not! And, we got a bike rack that holds five bikes!!! We have the pack that goes on top and we should be ready to go BUT NO!!!!! He STILL wants to pull the trailer. SOunds like a no win argument, huh?
However, I saw my first glint of victory today. He is going to have to work on Saturday and drive up late that night so my parents are going to ride with me and then he is going to bring their car later on in the evening. I CAN"T DRIVE WITH THE TRAILER!!!! I have a hard enough time driving the large car but do not try to add another 10 feet in length. I would probably get stuck in the middle of 64 east back to back traffic and not able to move so if he wants to work on Saturday I think we will be leaving the trailer at home. I will keep you posted on who wins the argument because it IS only thursday and a lot can and will happen before Saturday!

Getting Ready

SO we are headed out on vacation on Saturday SO, the preparing for vacation marathon has begun. Why is it that most times getting ready for a vacation takes so much energy that it takes three days to recoup while your on your trip THEN you have to start getting ready to come home. Was there ever a time that things were easy? SHove a toothbrush and a suit in a bag and hit the road? I guess Chad and I have traded that for years of fun vacations, rather Adventures, with 4 kids. Not so much relaxing or fly by the seat of our pants but I would have to say, MUCH MORE FUN! and, the best part is we will be at that point in our lives again (in about 17 years) so we get the best of both worlds......( and yes I did phrase it this way because I think we are on episode 7 of Hannah Montana in the other room!) Anyway, the kids are happy and I am able to post on my blog! I LOVE the video babysitter!

Day with Daddy 3

Okay, so here are the clues Daddy gave us........
1. We are going to a place
2. Parker is dressed very appropriately (he was wearing orange and blue)
3. It is the house of a person whose first name is the same as Granddaddys
(do you know yet?????)
4. He was the founder and designer of UVA
5. He was a president
6. He wrote the Declaration of Independence
You guessed it! We went to Monticello and had am amazing time. Again, all four children behaved and the older ones even got something out of the trip. They were able to tell Nana and Granddaddy lots of facts they learned over dinner.
Way to Go DAD!
Pictures are to follow...........

I forgot

I forgot to post a picture of out outing last weekend so here it is. The four kids at the Aviation museum!

First Real Day of Summer

Okay, so this morning started off my first real day of summer. I say that because it is the first morning since summer started that my children have fought. And I mean really FOUGHT!!!! They started the morning screaming at each other and it escalated to hitting and spitting by 9:20 am....(fyi: they did not get up until 8:30) And the BEST part of the day was I had to take them to the grocery store! What fun! Let me tell you, I could not ask for more fun on a friday morning!
It IS finally quieter here now because Bear has gone to a friends' house for a sleep over and Cooper has a friend over. Logan's friend will be arriving in an hour then Cooper's goes home and we are going to have a girl night sleepover. Pizza, ice cream, and a movie! Want to come along? I am sure Chad will change places with most anybody if he was given the choice.

Super Find

So I heard several comments about my flip flop quandry and I thought I would update everyone on how it was resolved. I found some great flip flops called SWITCHFLOPS at a local drugstore. YOu can CHANGE THE STRAPS.....Yes, you heard me right, CHANGE THE STRAPS.... So, you buy a base flop, then you can make the straps match any item of clothing you want. They sell over 40 different tops for the shoes. YEAH!! the best part is, my MOM AND DAD got them for me AND 3 CUTE tops. SO, I now have black, brown, and a PRECIOUS yellow daisy strap. And, I have the ability to match a whole lot more! Hip Hip Hooray!

Really Big step.....

So I took a really big step yesterday, in fact it was more of a jump or leap! WE SOLD THE CRIB!!!!!! And all the bedding to go with it. WOW! I am not sure if I feel relief or sadness. I think it is a little of both. I got some cash that I am now gong to use to decorate my little boys new room. I can't call it the baby's room anymore now. He is a little boy. Next step, potty training.....
Actually, it will be awhile for that. As I said in an earlier post, close you eyes and imagine me with all four this summer trying to visit every public bathroom in richmond in order for Parker to go potty AND lugging all four out of the pool on a very frequent basis for the same reason. Now open your eyes, NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! Maybe this fall.......until then, my little boy will continue to grow up and play with new toys and sleep in a big boy bed BUT the little part of me who misses the baby can keep changing diapers.

Day with Daddy take 2

Okay, I know you have all been waiting until this next post to see where in the world Chad was whisking us off to this week for Daddy Day. Well, we had a few constraints this week so we did not travel as far. The Park Man has Hand Foot and Mouth AND an ear infection SSSSSOOOOOO, we did not want to spend long amounts of time in the car. We went to the VIrginia Aviation Museum and everyone LOVED running around looking at the airplanes. We then got to go out for a pizza lunch and go see Kung FU Panda AND get popcorn/candy/treats. I think the concessions at the theater were the biggest hit BUT we were all together and did somethings that we do not normally do. We had good together and Parker really hung in there like a champ. Yeah for Daddy two weeks in a row......
Stay tuned for the Next adventure of....... DAY WITH DADDY.......

big Big BIG BOY

Well we did it this weekend. We moved Parker OUT of his crib and into his toddler bed. I have to admit, I was a little sad but his pure excitement definately curbed my sadness a little. He was runing around like a crazy man saying, "BYE BYE BED.....HI new bed!" So, now I need to decorate it up and I think I will feel better. We have already broken down the crib and are selling it tomorrow. Sadness...... no more little bity babies all swaddled up in our home. We have now moved on to blankets and toys and big boy beds.

Flip Flop Quandry

Here is my problem, I got some wonderful flip flops last summer that I adore but they are looking a bit worn SO I am thinking f purchasing new ones BUT what color do I get? The same ones? Brown? Black? I could get three pairs but spending more on flip flops than groceries this week is not an option. Also, do I really need new ones NOW, we are almost a third the way through summer???? What to do.....what to do.....